Winona is a very passionate Pokémon Trainer. She loves Flying-types, and has developed a bond so close to them that she claims she has "become one with Bird Pokémon." She also taught how to battle to young trainers such as Picnicker Kylee. After defeating the Elite Four in Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, Winona can be found atop one of the four transmission towers on the roof level of Mauville City, feeling the wind in her hair. The player cannot interact with her, but can speak to an old woman watching her directly beneath the tower. She asks what could have possibly motivated Winona to do something so reckless and dangerous.

Quotes

"I am Winona. I am the Leader of the Fortree Pokémon Gym. I have become one with bird Pokémon and have soared the skies... However grueling the battle, we have triumphed with grace... Witness the elegant choreography of bird Pokémon and I!"

Being defeated

"Never before have I seen a Trainer command Pokémon with more grace than I... In recognition of your prowess, I present to you this Gym Badge."

After being defeated

"With the Feather Badge, all Pokémon up to LV 70, even those received through trades, will obey your every command. You will also be able to use the HM move Fly outside of battle. And this... This is a gift from me."

"TM40 contains Aerial Ace. Its speed... No Pokémon should be able to avoid it."

"We humans can never escape gravity's pull on the ground. But by striving for excellence, we have the power to soar! You have scaled the pinnacles as the reigning Champion. Please, allow me to see your power at full flight!"

Being defeated

"I failed to reach your height again..."

After being defeated

"Even though I have lost, the wings of my heart remain unbroken. I can rise and soar again and yet again. I am convinced of it!"

"Never before have I seen a Trainer command Pokémon with more grace than I..."

After being defeated

"I recognize your talent and present you with this Gym Badge."

"With the Feather Badge, all Pokémon up to Lv. 70, even those received through trades, will obey your every command. You will also be able to use the HM move Fly outside of battle. And this... This is a gift from me."

"Roost... With this move, the user can restore its HP by up to half of its max HP by landing on the ground and resting its injured body. However, the user loses its Flying-type designation during the turn, so be cautious. You won against me... I know you'll keep aiming higher and higher! Someday, you may even fly up into the sky... That's the impression I get from you."

After becoming Champion

"You became the Champion, a little bird told me. I know you'll keep aiming higher and higher! You'll zip around the land, the sea, and the vastness of the sky... That's the impression I get from you."

In the anime

When Ash first arrived at Fortree, she was away from the Gym in order to help out in the Feather Carnival, an annual festival where the whole city celebrates the Flying Pokémon. After getting scared by Brock's "usual ways" and chasing Team Rocket off for trying to steal the Flying-types with her Skarmory, she battled Ash the next day.

Winona's giantSkarmory only appeared in the Feather Festival. Each time, it would bring a child and Winona on its back and fly around the festival, including May and Max. It did not participate in the Gym match against Ash. It also helped defeat Team Rocket who were stealing Pokémon from the festival.

The first Pokémon Winona used in the Gym battle against Ash was her Altaria. With Grovyle's speed, Altaria's attack did not work again and again. Then finally, with a Leaf Blade, Altaria was defeated, despite the type advantage.

Winona's Pelipper was the second Pokémon she used against Ash. Ash battled with Pikachu, starting with a Thunderbolt. Pelipper countered with Steel Wing as a ground. Pelipper then used Hydro Pump, but its wing lost contact with the ground and Pikachu used its mistake to its advantage with a Thunder attack. Both Pelipper and Pikachu were knocked out due to the damage they took.

The final Pokémon Winona used against Ash was her ShinySwellow. It was shown to be a powerful battler, with powerful attacks like Aerial Ace and Hyper Beam. It defeated Ash's Grovyle easily and almost beat Ash's Swellow, but with a little quick thinking on Ash's part, his Swellow was victorious, winning Ash the Feather Badge.

Winona's Swellow was the fifth Shiny Pokémon to appear in the anime. It is also the first Shiny Pokémon owned by a Gym Leader.

Voice actors

In the manga

In the Pokémon Adventures manga

Winona in Pokémon Adventures

Winona debuts in the Ruby & Sapphire chapter. She is tasked by the Pokémon Association with supervising the other Hoenn Gym Leaders. It is her job to guide new Gym Leaders and make sure they keep their Gyms running smoothly.

She makes her first appearance in Hanging Around With Slaking III at the Weather Institute. She stops Norman from battling his son to inform him that he had been spending too much time away from his Gym. She asks Norman to come with her so that he may return to his proper Gym Leader duties. Later, she watches Flannery build up a win streak in her Gym. Winona informs Flannery about Sapphire, a young challenger that has already managed to defeat three other Gym Leaders.

Later, Flannery calls all of the Gym Leaders to Fortree City to have a meeting about the mysterious organizations Team Magma and Team Aqua. The group gets into an argument about which team is the villains and which is on the side of good. When Flannery decides to choose Team Magma as the heroes and Team Aqua as the villains, Winona chooses to trust her friend's judgment and picks the same choice.

Winona meets Sapphire in person when the latter arrives at Fortree City. They have a Gym battle, but not even the evolution of Sapphire's Chic into Blaziken is enough to beat Winona. Although she lost, Sapphire gladly accepts Winona's offer to be trained by her. Winona also reveals that the Legendary Pokémon Kyogre will be awakened soon, and she and the other Gym Leaders want Sapphire to help them prevent chaos from spreading throughout Hoenn. The other Gym Leaders question Winona telling Sapphire all that, since in reality only she and Flannery had actually agreed to Sapphire joining them. Later, Winona agrees to a training session with Sapphire. Due to being angry from a previous argument with Ruby, Sapphire's fury gives her the strength to defeat Winona. Winona praises Sapphire and awards her the Feather Badge for her good work.

When Groudon and Kyogre are awakened, they begin causing droughts and downpours throughout Hoenn. Flannery and Brawly are sent to deal with Groudon while Roxanne and Wattson are sent to deal with Kyogre. Winona is tasked with evaluating the situation and directing the two teams from the sidelines so that they can succeed in their goals. As Winona and Sapphire assist the wild Pokémon caught in the crossfire, they are approached by the former guardians of Mt. Pyre. The guardians reveal that the culprits behind Groudon and Kyogre's awakening are at the Seafloor Cavern, but they have no way of going there to stop them. Ruby also arrives and reveals that with Sapphire's Relly, he and Sapphire will be able to go to the Seafloor Cavern. Although initially finding Ruby's claims ridiculous, Winona allows the two to go through with it when Sapphire says she trusts Ruby's words.

With Ruby and Sapphire gone, Wallace states that he will go to assist Roxanne and Brawly in stopping Groudon. The Pokémon Association Director tells Winona that he will be taking over her supervising duties, which allows her to go and assist her fellow Gym Leaders. Winona goes to help Flannery and Wattson deal with Kyogre, but they are interrupted by the Subleaders of the Sea Scheme of Team Aqua, Amber, Shelly, and Matt. The Subleaders all face one of the Gym Leaders to make sure they can't stop Kyogre from advancing any further. Winona is paired up against Matt, but she manages to easily defeat him. Although defeated, Matt and the other Subleaders manage to keep their opponents occupied long enough for Kyogre to advance to Sootopolis City to battle with Groudon.

Winona in the thirteenth chapter

With the other Gym Leaders too injured to continue battling, Winona and Wallace both head to Sootopolis City to help Ruby and Sapphire against Groudon and Kyogre. When she arrives, Winona finds Sapphire beaten and worried that they won't be able to win. Winona snaps Sapphire out of it by reminding her that she is fighting for the one she loves. Sapphire thanks Winona for helping bring back her confidence and goes to continue the battle alongside Ruby. After Groudon and Kyogre were defeated and returned to their long slumber, Archie and Maxie came out of hiding to attack the heroes and make sure they won't be able to stop their plans again. Wallace attempts to face the two villains, but they reveal that they have kidnapped Winona. With Winona held hostage, Wallace is forced to give up and allows himself to be defeated. After both Team Magma and Team Aqua are defeated, Winona celebrated the victory with her allies and thanked Sapphire and Ruby for their assistance in the battle.

In the Emerald chapter, Winona appears at the wedding between Wanda and Riley alongside Wallace, Ruby, and Sapphire. She and Wallace stay behind to attend the reception while Ruby and Sapphire go to their mission at the Battle Frontier.

In the Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire chapter, Winona, along with various people from around Hoenn, is called to Sootopolis City to assist in stopping Grand Meteor Delta, a giant meteoroid threatening to destroy the planet. When the plan to attack Grand Meteor Delta starts, Winona and the others have their Pokémon attack the meteoroid at the same time. This, combined with the might of Mega Rayquaza, successfully shatters Grand Meteor Delta into pieces.

She and Wallace had a romantic relationship in the past. When Wallace beat the Pokémon League, he turned down the position of Champion to take over the Sootopolis Gym after his master, Juan. However, he also had the intention of staying close to Winona. Winona was opposed to this act, as she found the idea of a man much stronger than constantly around her to be smothering, which led to her breaking off their relationship.

Pokémon

Altaria is Winona's first known Pokémon. She was first seen being used to fly to Norman and tell him to return to his Gym. Later, she faced Sapphire's Chic in a Gym battle. Despite the Combusken's evolution into Blaziken, it wasn't enough to defeat Altaria and was defeated. During the Groudon and Kyogre crisis, Altaria was used to battle Matt and easily managed to defeat him.

Masquerain is Winona's second known Pokémon. She was first seen being used to train with Sapphire. She was defeated by Sapphire's Troppy's Aerial Ace, giving Sapphire the win. During the Groudon and Kyogre crisis, a tidal wave nearly hit Winona and Sapphire. Masquerain was used to block the wave, but Sapphire's Relly saved them instead.

In addition, said Altaria is level 33 even though Swablu cannot evolve until level 35.

Winona's Gym battle can be skipped until the Pokémon League, where her Badge is required to progress. This is prevented in Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire as players cannot fully pass Route 120 without her Badge.

Winona's team changes from an all-female party in her Gym battle to an all-male party in her rematches in Pokémon Emerald.